Earth & Environment - Nov 11, 2010 16:32 - 4 Comments

Will oil run out 90 years too soon?

UC DAVIS (US) — At the current pace of research and development, global oil will run out 90 years before replacement technologies are ready, says a study based on stock market expectations. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Nov 11, 2010 13:03 - 0 Comments

Will stored CO2 leak into drinking water?

DUKE (US) — There could be a serious downside to injecting carbon dioxide deep underground to mitigate climate change. New analysis suggests it can pollute drinking water aquifers. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Nov 9, 2010 16:22 - 3 Comments

Dead corals near site of Gulf spill

PENN STATE (US) — On a research ship in the Gulf of Mexico—seven miles southwest of the site of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill—a team of scientists recently found evidence of dead and dying corals. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Nov 8, 2010 16:10 - 0 Comments

Radioactive cleanup takes (more) time

IOWA STATE (US) — Distorted formulas have wrongly swayed theories of how long it takes to transform a contaminated area into one free of pollution. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Nov 3, 2010 10:30 - 0 Comments

Plant-fungi duo turned Earth green

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — New evidence suggests an ancient plant group worked together with soil-dwelling fungi to “green” the Earth in the early Paleozoic era, nearly half a billion years ago. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Nov 2, 2010 16:24 - 1 Comment

Is ozone underestimated?

CALTECH (US) — In the most polluted parts of Los Angeles—and on the most polluted days in those areas—current prediction models are underestimating ozone levels by between 5 to 10 percent. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Nov 2, 2010 10:37 - 0 Comments

Warmer temps linked to rainfall extremes

DUKE (US) — A doubling of abnormally wet or dry summer weather in the southeastern United States in recent decades has come from an intensification of the summertime North Atlantic Subtropical High (NASH), or “Bermuda High.” (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 29, 2010 14:09 - 1 Comment

Signs of climate change at low elevations

UC DAVIS (US) — Contrary to expectations, climate change has had a significant effect on mountain plants at low elevations. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 27, 2010 12:45 - 0 Comments

A planet with no backbone?

U. MICHIGAN (US) — One-fifth of the world’s vertebrate species are threatened with extinction, but the situation would be worse if not for current global conservation efforts, according to an international study in Science Express. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 26, 2010 12:25 - 0 Comments

Pollinators: Evolutionary flower power

CORNELL (US) — Pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, are agents of natural selection in flowers, enabling them to produce seeds for the next generation. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 25, 2010 15:27 - 2 Comments

Fracking havoc with the environment

U. BUFFALO (US) — Disputes over drilling Marcellus shale for natural gas have focused on the environmental effects of pumping millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 21, 2010 17:41 - 0 Comments

Without predators, reef fish get fearless

UC SANTA BARBARA (US) — When the number of predators on coral reefs is reduced by fishing, their prey move greater distances, take more risks, and change feeding behaviors. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 21, 2010 13:44 - 0 Comments

Plant plastics not so green after all?

U. PITTSBURGH (US) — Biopolymers may be the more eco-friendly material, but petroleum-derived plastics can be less environmentally taxing to produce. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 20, 2010 15:26 - 0 Comments

Oceans hold treasure trove of minerals

CORNELL (US) —While land-based deposits may be a dwindling source of valuable minerals, deposits on the ocean floor could power humanity for centuries. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 20, 2010 11:19 - 0 Comments

Logging packs bigger punch than fire

U. OREGON (US) — Soil stability and unprecedented erosion remains a problem half a century after clear-cut logging and related road building took place in the 1950s and ’60s. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 14, 2010 17:13 - 0 Comments

Clues to how food chains grow

YALE (US) — New research helps settle an old debate among ecologists about what determines the length of nature’s food chains, which sustain all life on earth. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 14, 2010 11:26 - 5 Comments

Aliens pushing ocean natives out

UC DAVIS (US) — When oceans warm, invasive animals move in, threatening and crowding out native species, according to a new study. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 13, 2010 13:02 - 0 Comments

Easy way to track phytoplankton

U. WASHINGTON (US) — It’s now much easier to pinpoint biological hot spots in the world’s oceans where some inhabitants are smaller than, well, a pinpoint. (more…)

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